Is my RO membrane destroyed?

number1gsxxr

number1gsxxr

Member
So my dad installed a recirculating pump off of our boiler without my knowledge to keep the hot water warm for our upstairs since it is a long run of pipe. I have a mixing valve installed before my RO/DI unit to keep the water about 77 going into the unit. The other day I went to make a couple gallons of water for top-off and I noticed that the clean water line was overflowing my 5-dal bucket and the waste line was just about to the top of my 5-gal waste bucket. I can usually prioduce a full 5-gals of waste water in 25mins. I though that this was odd that the clean water bucket was full before the waste bucket. So I used a laser thermometer to see what the temp was since the water was very warm. The 1st stage of my unit was reading 99 degrees F! I think the the recirculating pump that my dad installed is causing much too hot water to reach the unit. My TSD coming out of the RO membrane was reading 15 and it has always read about 2 the last couple of weeks. I was also reading 2 TDS out of my DI chamber and that has always read 0. I think the hot water has ruined the membrane which in turn used up some of the DI resin. Your thoughts?
Cliff notes: Approximately 100 degree water was going into my RO unit. Do you think this has ruined my membranes (I have 2). Used to get 2 TDS out of the membranes now I'm getting 15. All of this literally changed overnight.
 
scsinet

scsinet

Active Member
It all has to do with water density. Hot water is less dense so it passes through the membrane easier, increasing production and decreasing rejection. Of couse the tradeoff is that hot (or even warm) water can ruin the membrane, which may have happened here.
My advice would be to change the DI cartridge, and see if your TDS goes back down. If not, you'll need a new membrane.
 
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